Leaping Legend Review

The virtual world is decidedly medieval, with the jittery characters and animations presented in 8-bit retro glory. As noted, all the elements come together to create a game with an arcade feel. The animations are fairly utilitarian, and do the job without being too flashy. If creating a remarkable ode to the past is the goal, I think the developer mostly succeeds admirably.

In this one, the higher up one goes the better. Trying to free the fair-haired maiden at the “top” is the goal, and to accomplish this, our protagonist has two parallel walls to run up, as well as the ability to leap from one wall to the other on the quest to the top. This ability to leap is invaluable, as along the way, there are all sorts of run-ending obstacles, ranging from scary looking rotating blades to barrels and plenty of dropping debris.

The controls are not overly expansive, featuring two buttons for slowing down or quickening the pace on the left, and a jump button the right. The jump button diverts our climber to the opposing wall when a danger blocks the path.

Thankfully, there are some power ups as well; swords, shields and the like are present to be picked up and wielded for the cause. And what type of retro game would this be without a multiplier system and gold coins? There is plenty of the latter to procure, but, as to be expected, leaping to get them could have some unforeseen negative consequences. The gold coins can be used as in-game cash in the game’s extensive store; there are tons of extras and attributes to improve with the earned loot, as well as characters to unlock. I did not feel like purchases were necessary to enjoy the game, either.

I do admit the game was harder than I thought it would be, which isn’t a bad thing; the challenge made the game that more compelling. I rarely knew how far I was either. The achievement set also increases the innate competitiveness of the game, as does the networking aspect and communal leaderboards.